5 Things to Do This Weekend (Feb. 28-March 2)

Thursday

Feb 27, 2014 at 11:52 AMFeb 27, 2014 at 11:52 AM

This week’s suggestions are five ways to celebrate Oscar weekend.

1. Movie night, part 1

You can start your movie weekend by heading to the theater to see something new. The big movies opening this week are “Non-Stop,” a PG-13 thriller starring Liam Neeson and Julianne Moore; and “Son of God,” a PG-13 movie about the life of Jesus.

2. Movie night, part 2

If the theater movies don’t appeal to you, hold a movie night with your family and/or friends. You could watch some of this year’s Best Picture nominees, or check out past winners. This year’s Best Picture nominees are “American Hustle,” “Captain Phillips,” “Dallas Buyers Club,” “Gravity,” “Her,” “Nebraska,” “Philomena,” “12 Years a Slave” and “The Wolf of Wall Street.”

3. Hold a contest

You can arrange several guess-the-winners contests if you’re really into the Oscars: Put together one at work, one with your family and one with your friends, perhaps through Facebook. The prizes can be something simple, such as a DVD, movie theater pass, Netflix gift certificate or even an Oscar-shaped cookie.

4. Organize your party

Oscar parties are in vogue these days, and there are plenty of ways to hold them. You can have it be a costume party where people dress as their favorite movie characters, have movie-themed food and drink, and more. Celebrations.com has a good list of ideas if you need further suggestions: www.celebrations.com/oscarparty.

5. And the winner is …

Finally, don’t forget to watch the show! The 86th Academy Awards, hosted by Ellen DeGeneres, is on ABC and begins at 7 p.m. EST. If you want to watch pre-show coverage, just flip through the channels – more than a few will be covering the event. For more information on the nominees and more, go to the official website of the Academy Awards, http://oscar.go.com.